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Devon and Cornwall Police said the camper van, which is registered to an address in London, was travelling northbound when it veered into the central reservation and across onto the southbound carriageway before colliding head-on with the Tigra, which is registered to Exeter.

Both drivers sustained serious injuries and were trapped within their vehicles. Fire crews had to cut the casualties free and the Devon Air Ambulance landed on the motorway to collect one injured person before airlifting them to hospital.

The southbound carriageway was still completely closed to motorists and emergency services were still dealing with the aftermath of that collision when four-vehicles collided on the one open lane of the northbound carriageway at around 3.45pm.

Police are unsure how the multi-vehicle crash happened and said they had only just reopened one lane of the northbound carriageway following the earlier crash.

Officers aid a white HGV lorry, a black Ford Focus, a black Honda Accord and a black Honda Jazz collided on a section known as ‘Hele Straight’.

At least two people have sustained serious injuries in that crash and emergency crews have been forced to close the motorway again to allow the Devon Air Ambulance to land for the second time today.

It is not known how long the motorway will remain closed for although police said it would be for “some time”.

The closure has already caused chaos for motorists across Devon, with several stuck in gridlocked traffic on the motorway.

Police said several motorists had stopped at the scene to help after witnessing the first collision.

The road is currently closed between Junction 28 (Cullompton Services) and Junction 29 (A30 Exeter). The on-slip of Junction 30 at (Exeter Services) is also closed at present.

A number of diversions remain in place at this time. All southbound traffic is advised to leave the M5 at Junction 28 and travel along the B3181, although there are reports of standstill traffic in the area.

Police are advising motorists to delay their journey for as long as possible or avoid the area completely.